


League of Extraordinary Exs

by Ayrin_Krebs



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: (eventually maybe one day ill get there), Canon-Typical Violence, Queer Character, Suicidal Thoughts, mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-14 03:22:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29411874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ayrin_Krebs/pseuds/Ayrin_Krebs
Summary: Timothy finds himself on a planet where no one knows his face, and no one cares about his past except him. Maybe now he can finally settle down and live a normal life.
Kudos: 3





	1. Prelude ECHOlogs

**Author's Note:**

> (Heavy themes for the first few chapters since im going through some shit and using Timothy as free therapy. i was tired of looking at torture porn fics so i decided to just write my own where he DOESNT get hurt... much, takes place after the handsome jackpot and on a planet that doesnt exist in canon so i can do whatever the fuck i want!)  
> (also the first few chapters will be kinda short since i like dividing them into sections of time and so far nothing big has happened sooooo yeah)

An escape pod drifts in the vastness of space, nothing to be seen but the speckles of stardust on the distant horizon. Only one passenger is on this pod, same in a cryotube as they hope to one day find themselves somewhere far from their past. The command console emergency light flashes hauntingly as it signals that although the ship itself is sleeping it is still very much alive, waiting for its chance to wake up. A tablet sits on the console, a data recorder with only a few new entries.

ECHOlog #1

… My name is Timothy Lawrence. I'm an ex Hyperion “employee” who made some... really stupid choices when I was fresh out of college. Took a job being a rich guys personal slave without realizing it and spent a solid decade in a hell of his making so I guess you could say I'm a little fucked up. Probably got some ptsd or something but who knows I'm no doctor, what I do know is that I need to get as far from Hyperion as possible so maybe... just maybe I have a chance to live a normal life for a few years before I die to whatever horrors the universe decides to throw at me... Fuck... This pod can't take me far while at fll power but thankfully it has a place I can nap for a while and maybe when I wake up I'll be somewhere where no one knows his face. That's my only chance of being free, no one can know this face. If I can just find a place like that... I might actually be able to make up for everything I've done... All the things I did for him... I can only hope I do enough good to at least show I'm not him..

ECHOlog #2

… Its been about. 3 months? I set the pod to wake me up in either 3 months or if it detected a planet nearby. And it looks like its the former so that's fine I guess. I'm going back in for another 3 months. I'll find what I'm looking for, either that or I'll die peacefully in the terrifying abyss that is the cold vacuum of space! Where no one will ever find me... oh... Didn't realize how depressing that is until I said it out loud... Well if I do die and someone finds this pod. I guess all I can say is... I'm sorry. For everything I had done for him. I had no choice, he would have killed me or worse if I didn't do what he said. Although... no that's no excuse. I could have fought back. I would have died sure but I could have done something to stop him... I suppose that makes me a coward for not standing up to him. On the other hand no one should have been put in my position and yet by the end there were dozens of guys like me who lined up to get the surgery... Retrospect is a bitch, we all got fucked over by him and all we wanted was a better life for ourselves and he promised he'd give it to us and we all fucking fell for it. Must've been why he wanted us in the first place. Loyal little slaves to do his dirty work... well that's in the past. Nothing I can do about it now and no point in dwelling on it. Ill just drive myself crazy trying to rationalize all his abuse... My name is Timothy Lawrence, and you'd better fucking remember that.

ECHOlog #3

… Warning... malfunction detected... cryopod stasis override failed... last known passenger ejection... 9 months... sending distress beacon... “Please assist. Passenger stuck in stasis pod. Passenger cannot drive this ship. Autopilot offline. Requires immediate maintenance”... Message repeat... Warning... malfunction detected...


	2. The Mechanic

A mechanic sits in her shop on the outskirts of town, the fans whirring as they desperately try to keep the stagnant summer air moving around the room. She's tinkering with some old robot discarded from the planet's previous inhabitants, her radio playing the town's local musicians. She wishes new music would come out soon, as much as she loves the classics they get stale when heard everyday of the week. She wipes her brow, leaving a line of grease in its place, methodically taking apart this bot in the hopes of understanding what made it stop working in the first place. “How sad, nothing physically is wrong with the poor thing” she thinks to herself “its like it just... died one day”

Her pondering was interrupted by a console on the other end of her shop lighting up. “Attention user! You have -one- notification!” The mechanic pushed on her desk, sending her chair rolling across the cracked floor. She punched a few buttons, bringing up an orbital view of the planet. “Distress beacon found -two miles- from the planet's atmosphere!” She shoved some snacks into her mouth as she made a few more commands. “Playing detected recording!”

“Please assist. Passenger stuck in stasis pod. Passenger cannot drive this ship. Autopilot offline. Requires immediate maintenance”

Her brow furrowed, she ran a system check on the source. “Beacon source is a class 7 Hyperion escape pod! Flight path origin -processing- “The Handsome Jackpot” casino! Located -static- light years from current location! Detecting -one- passenger in stasis pod!” She sighed, leaning back in her chair as it creaked in protest. “Passenger has been in stasis for -12 months-!” Her head perked back up, seemingly startled by this news, she moved to her ECHO and prepped it for a call. “Flight path indicates the pod will not survive entering the atmosphere!” She frantically made the call.

“Papa? Come in Papa I have an emergency! There's a pod outside and its gonna explode once it enters orbit I need you to go and get it. The person is still alive but they're stuck in cryo they're gonna die Papa I need you to-”

A gruff voice cut her off, deep and dry, like the man just woke up “Relax kid I'm movin, the pod won't even get toasty I've got it covered”

“Thanks Papa, I've got a good feeling about this one...” She slumped back into her chair, reaching back to her snacks. She silently watched the map signal his ship's launch.

\--------------------

The mechanic and “Papa” drug the stasis pod into her garage, even with a dolly under it they struggled to move it all the way, giving up once it was all the way into the shop. Huffing and puffing they sat down and stared at it. After a while Papa grunted and took off, having done his part. “Thanks again Papa! You saved this guy's ass” She lifted her glass to him, he waved without turning around and shut the big garage door behind him. She went back to staring at the pod, wisps of freezing air flowing off of it at it crackled in the new heat. Satisfied she moved to grab some of her tools and get to work on cracking it open. The ECHO found in the ship sat on her desk, who knows shat secrets from the other side on the galaxy it has? She set the recording to play as she ran system checks on the stasis pod. “… My name is Timothy Lawrence. I'm an ex Hyperion 'employee'...”

A few hours passed before she finally got the pod open, one too many hits to the ship by space debris caused the already shotty programming to completely fail and attempt to kill its passenger. Although from what little she knows about Hyperion she theorized that may have been a feature rather than a bug. She would have jus pried the damn thing open if she though she could get away with it, but a year in cryo does funny things to a human, so she decided against it. She managed to get it to start up the reanimation process without a hitch, and she set up a small makeshift bed by the pod. It opened with a dramatic hiss as the cold air poured out of it like an overflowing cup. Its passenger didn't wake up like he should have, but he was still breathing and his heartbeat was steady, so that's better than she hoped. She gently lifted him out of the pod and onto the bed, trying not to drop him or knock him into anything. He was rather heavy and she wasn't the strongest kid on the planet. She knelt by his bed, putting her hand on his forehead, still pretty cool compared to the evening heat around him. She moved a blanket up to his waist, not wanted him to go into shock and also to cover up his... nearly naked body. They advise stasis pod users to wear as little clothing as possible, she always though it was a ploy to get people to strip and be oggled by those not in stasis. 

She moved her radio over to the bed, tuning it to a relaxing channel and setting the volume low. Setting what she assume are his clothes by the radio, as well as some water and food. She went back to her dead robot, wanting to distract herself from the creeping anxiety that he may never wake up.


	3. Midnight Introspection

Its been a few days since the stranger was pulled out of the pod. The dead of night loomed over the mechanics garage, the wildlife creaking outside, a comforting noise for the locals. Despite being the middle of the night, the moonlight bathed this half on the planet in a cool glow, the average person could easily see from one side of town to the other, even without the town's neon lights going off.

The stranger moved for the first time, rolling onto his side and groaning as he did so. His hand flopped onto the food bag causing a loud crinkle, startling him his eyes snapped open. He jolted up, covered in sweat, he looked at his hands and then felt his face. The skin tight mask still glued there, he felt for the crack on his left cheek. He let out a sigh of relief at that, finding solace in the seemingly innocuous damage. He looked around the room... stasis pod, half build technical babble, dead CL4P-TR4P unit, and a sleeping girl. Her face rested on the desk, a small drool puddle under her as she held a wrench in her hand even when completely zonked out. He tried to get up, jointed popping into place, he leaned against the stasis pod as he struggled to get up. He quietly put his clothes on and moved toward the girl's desk, grabbing his ECHO he made his way outside. He climbed onto the roof of the garage, finding a chair with an umbrella by it, he made himself comfortable.

ECHOlog #4

… My name is... Timothy Lawrence. I just woke up, I have no idea where I am, I have no idea how long I've been asleep, and I have no idea how I'm still alive. The ECHO says I was stuck for at least 9 months, probably more. I'm pretty sure I'm not on Pandora, this planet is way too flat for that, and the “dogs” here are nothing like the skags... the fact that the girl in the garage didn't kill me in my sleep makes me think she doesn't know who's face this is which... I hope is a good thing? I mean it is what I wanted but now that I have it I... I dunno... I've spend so long running away from people trying to kill me that now that someone isn't it feels. So surreal... she even left out food for me like who does that? For a stranger no less like I just... I'm afraid to let go of my fear I guess. Its all I had for so long...

He sighed and held his head in his hands. Tears leaked gently out of his eyes, he stared at this planet's moon for what felt like hours, replaying all the moments in his past that made him who he is now. All those times he took a life to keep his own, every person he loved only for them to admit they only liked his face, every morning he'd wake up with new scars. He looked at his right hand, his “winning” hand, even though he got it replaced after he had to cut it off he can still feel the pain as if it were fresh. On the plus side he no longer has that atrocious tribal tattoo since that got cut off and further buried under metal for the new hand. He always hated that fucking tattoo, only pretentious asshats have tribal tattoos.

Timothy's stomach growled, interrupting his self introspection. How long has it been since he ate? He made his way back to the bed, munching on the food left out for him, carefully trying not to wake up the girl. He had no idea what he was eating but fuck did it taste good, and filling too. He glugged down the water in one sitting, wiping the excess off his chin, then stealthily put the food wrapper in the nearby trashcan. Tip toeing back to his bed, he buried himself under the blanket and went back to sleep, trying to keep his thoughts on the positive “You're safe now Timothy, you're safe now...”


	4. High Noon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plot time!!! Plot Time!!! *siren starts blaring*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (prays that the picture works)

The morning sun peaked through the blinds, dust floating in the beams. The mechanic had set out fresh food and water by Timothy's bed, seeing that the old food was gone. She had gone to the store first thing in the morning when she realized her charge had woken up, fulling stocking her fridge in preparation of her new guest. She stopped by Papa's house with newfound energy, he sat on his porch cleaning his rifle. “He's awake Papa! He woke up sometime last night and ate the food!” he grunted enthusiastically in response.

She sat at her desk continuing her work, categorizing the bot's parts as she not so patiently waited for the stranger to wake up again. It wasn't until about noon that he finally did, and it was far from a graceful awakening. Groaning like an old man he dragged himself out of his covers and cracked his back like a zipper. The mechanic whipped her chair around excitedly, her face beaming at the sight of this poor tired, but alive, man. “Back from the dead I see! You had me worried, I though you were never going to wake up. My names Sue, I'm this towns finest mechanic.”

Timothy rubbed his eyes, trying to take in this eccentric girl before saying anything. “Pleasure to meet you Sue... I'm Timothy... uh... ex vault hunter I guess?”

“A vault hunter! That's so cool, you should talk to Papa sometime, he used to be a vault hunter on Pandora waaaaaaay back in the day. I bet you two could bond over that.” she rolled her chair over to his bed “So where are you from Timothy? The pod said you came from some kinda casino but I highly doubt you were born there, unless you were, and then I wanna hear all about that cause that sounds wild!” she put her head in her fists, expecting him to spout some crazy exposition.

Timothy stayed quiet at that, tearing open the food packet. After a pause he finally spoke “I don't really want to talk about the casino to be quite honest. Not a good section of my life. And my home planet is really quite boring, it was just your average civilization planet. Lotta bureaucracy and stuck up corporations trying to get us to enlist in their petty squabbles” he took a long sip of his water “did you uh... listen to those ECHOlogs I made?”

She shifted in her seat a bit “I did. But in my defense it kinda felt like I was supposed to? You don't have to talk about all that bad shit if you don't want to... everyone on this planet is fucked up and a reject of something. So you'll fit right in, maybe even find someone who knows your pain that you can confide in. Its a big town after all...” She moved her chair over to bring a box to the bed “heres all the stuff I got out of the pod you came in. unfortunately the pod is pretty much glorified scrap. Whatever happened to it out there in space made it the equivalent of a brick with an ai. Honestly im surprised you're still alive!”

He took the box and started riffling through it “Yeah that kinda... checks out. The casino was a deathtrap and I probably could have guessed that the pods were rigged to fuck up and kill us. But I had no other way of getting out, and I wasn't going to join the crew of the ship that saved my sorry ass. Too many people who know my face...” He pulled out a small trinket, a pair of fuzzy dice with the dots as tiny little pink hearts. He smiled weakly, his eyes welling up just a bit.

“Hey, again you don't have to answer but, what do you mean by that exactly? You seem to put a lot of wait in your face and not, I don't know, your personality or reputation I guess?”

“I guess... the easiest way to describe it is that. I took this job to be someone's doppelganger, I didn't know that when I took the job, and I certainly didn't know the guy was a fucking genocidal maniac bent on taking over the whole universe!” he laid back on the bed and let out a heavy sigh “that's why I wanted to get as far away from the borderlands as I could. No one on this planet knows this face right?”

“Not as far as I know? Zeze might since he was in the borderlands for a while and didn't come here until a few years ago. But he's pretty chill, I doubt he's gonna attack you if he recognizes your face. Zeze is really the only one I can think of honestly. Most of us here were dropped off when Dahl was mining the planet. Ex slaves and employees and what not, and some refugees from the planets around us.”

“That's good I guess, the less who know my face the better. Gives me a chance to prove I'm not him before people jump to conclusions. What's the name of this planet anyway?”

“Nemesis! And I can tell you its very far from the borderlands. So far my computer couldn't even estimate how far that casino is to here. So if you're running from something, its not gonna find you for a very long time. But also it kinda sucks because no one cares about this planet so we gotta do everything ourselves.”

“How long was I stuck?”

“A whole year... and change, from before the stasis got stuck...”

“Fuck” He sat back up, rubbing his back as it creaked “No wonder I feel like shit... I was like. Pretty much dead”

“Mhmmm, you know we should probably have you start moving around too. You've eaten twice now which is good. But we need to make sure your body didn't take any damage being in cryo for so long.” he groaned in reluctant agreement “Do you like bars? I know a good one in town we could go to, my friends and I hang out there all the time. No one will start shit if you go with me” She got out of her chair and held out her hands, offering him help getting up “How long has it been since you were surrounded by friends? I bet hanging out with mine will wipe that layer of depression right off!”

He chuckled at that “That's... not how depression works but. Thanks kiddo” He cracked a real smile for the first time in years.


	5. Shabby Chic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (im kinda bad at dialogue im so sorry if this reads bad)

The pair walked slowly down the street, Sue teasing Timothy about his mysterious aura and reluctance to spill his tragic backstory. She actually made him laugh a few times, much to his surprise. “You know Tim, I can probably make you some crutches so you don't have to lean on somebody until your body bounces back. You seem like the kinda guy who doesn't like relying on others”

He chuckled lowly “Only because everyone in my life so far has stabbed me in the back. Except that one girl... I ended up ditching her... like an idiot. She was cool, loved fire, kinda scared the shit out of me but in a good way you know?”

Sue's face turned bright red “Oh yeah... I know the feeling. Scary women are such a double edged sword but damn are they pretty” She stared at the road ahead of her “Women... am I right...”

Timothy grew a sly smile as he leaned closer to Sue “Do you like women Sue? Like... capital “L” like women” he wiggled his eyebrows playfully.

Somehow Sue's face grew even brighter and she began to sweat “I-I just think they're neat you know? Like... uh... Like the universe is full of cruel men and women have to be real badasses here to make it and all the women in town are like that you know? Its uh.. its admiration...” Her eyes darted around looking for a distraction “AH LOOK there's the bar I was telling you about what excellent timing...” she trailed off with nervous laughter.

The bar in question didn't look like much, ramshackle walls and a roof that looks like a hard enough breeze will peel it right off. Even in the middle of the day it was bustling, music poured out the windows and the sounds of patrons laughing their heads off. It was perfect...

“You know I'm gonna keep teasing you about that kiddo, I can't help it” He lifted his head pridefully, she just glared at him “Unless you really don't want me to, and then I suppose I'll stop..”

She let out a playful sigh “You're an ass Timothy, not the bad kind, but definitely an ass. You'll fit in well here” she pushed open the door, a roar of applause came from the patrons as she led Timothy to a booth. She took a bow once he was settled “Thank you thank you, as you can see I am a wonderful caretaker my charge did not die! You may show your appreciation in the form of chocolates and whiskey” she plopped into her chair, signaling one of the bartenders to bring over some starters.

“You're awfully popular. Don't tell me... you're the towns only mechanic?” He said flatly as he perused the menu.

“Not the only mechanic, just the best. And also the coolest. The other “best” is a price gouger and he also can't paint for shit. His shop is on the other side of town where are the snooty people live” She gave her order to the tender and started rhythmically tapping the table “So now that you're alive and well... what do you wanna do? You got a bucket list we can start checking off?”

He took in a deep breath, held it for a moment, then let it out real slow “I have... no idea..” he fiddled with his hair “I suppose I'd like to get my face fixed but I feel like this planet is a bit to rustic to have surgeons like that. I guess I just want to relax for the first time in my life. Assuming that's even possible for me” he pulled out his ECHO and started looking at the data of the planet “I mean I need to find a job sure but other than that I guess I have no plans”

“What makes you think you need a job? You some kinda workaholic, can't sit still for more than two minutes. Round here everyone pulls weight but few of us have set 'jobs' unless they have real skills at something. Like me for example. I'm one of 4 good mechanics in this town. Maybe 20 on the whole planet. There's a market for people like me, but that doesn't mean you have to go out and find a job, you can just run around helping if someone asks and that's considered enough. Its not like those planets that run set jobs and require everyone and their dog to pull their weight for next to no pay. We're civilized here”

“So... I could just sit around waiting for someone to ask me for help and that's... that's acceptable as the minimum? Just sitting around waiting for things to happen? I wouldn't be considered a deadbeat or a drain...” He looked at her in disbelief, waiting for her to say no and play it off as a joke

“Yeah man... If you can hold a flashlight and grab tools that would be enough for me honestly. You can stay with me and help even if you have no technical prowess. Is that really such a strange concept to you? That people don't think of you as a cog in a machine? That's... really sad...”

Timothy was dumbfounded, he stayed quite for a while. Sipping his drink and observing the locals, not wanted to admit how fucked up the planets he's lived on have been compared to this economic paradise. Finally he spoke up “You guys have a doctor in town right? Someone who might be able to help me with a uh... I don't know how to describe it. I just need someone who can path up a part of me without making it worse than it already is”

“What like a plastic surgeon? Like you said we're way too backwater to have one of those, but we do have a lady who is very good and fixing gaping holes in someone and making it look like a paper cut. If that's up your alley”

“That might jut do it. I've got a thing that wont fully scar up. Hurts like a bitch every time I take of this mask” he pinched his nose “You ever been burned on the most sensitive part of your body? Its kinda like that except the burn also is poisoned”

“One day you're going to have to elaborate on your trauma because the bits and pieces I'm getting make me think you're a walking corpse”

He groaned dramatically into his hands, wiping his face and under his eyes “Maybe one day kiddo. But I'd have to give you a full history class first for any of it to make sense. Be thankful Hyperion never set its sights on this planet, my boss was the meanest son of a bitch around and he ran that place with an iron fist. No one crossed him without having everyone they ever met brutally murdered” he waved his hand dismissively “Not that any of that matters anymore. He's dead as dead can be and he's never coming back. No matter how hard it is for me to accept that...” he topped off the last of his drink and let out a content sigh “You were right though, this place is cheering me up. I've missed the simple bars, no neon trying to burn out my retinas”

Sue leaned back in her seat, propping her arms on the back seat of the booth, a proud smile wide on her face “I'm a genius I know, I know what people need before they do. Except when it comes to Papa... that man eludes me...”

“Is he your dad or do you just call him that?”

“Papa? Naw he's not my dad. Hes more like... the town's dad. If someone needs help they go to Papa. Need a ship? Go to Papa. Need a killer story? Go to Papa. Need advise on how best to kill a man?”

“Let me guess... Papa?” he snickered

“Actually now that I think about it yes but also no... for that you should probably go to Zeze”

“What's their shtick?”

“Zeze used to be a merc on Pandora. He said he was like... a witch or something. I don't know he used a specific word but basically he was this badass who helped some other badasses with taking down some big bad who wanted to kill everyone...” She pondered loudly for a moment “wait... holy shit I think it was your boss...” she beamed suddenly “You should totally talk to Zeze I bet you could shit talk about your old boss for hours without breaking a sweat!”

The blood drained from his face “I think... that would be a very bad idea. What's he look like so I can avoid him at all costs”

“Oh don't be like that Timothy, he's really nice he wouldn't hurt you. He's a smart guy he would know you aren't that lunatic” she reached for his hand, cupping it gently “I promise that if we bump into him I'll explain so he knows he can trust you. He knows I would never steer him wrong”

Timothy let out a defeated sigh “You're not gonna let this go are you? I don't want people knowing who I pretended to be... Its... humiliating”

“I know man, but Zeze will find out sooner or later. He likes to be in the know about new people in town. You're gonna have to face this eventually. I swear he's a good guy, you're safe here Timothy”

“I believe you kiddo. Let's just drop it for now”


End file.
